A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



still there.* 5 There was no endowment in 1650 

 beyond the interest on 2Os. &e Bishop Gastrell found 

 an endowment of 4. 141. in existence, and a grant 

 from Queen Anne's Bounty was secured in 1717. 

 Mr. Chetham and his tenants gave about 30 a year. 

 There was a chapel warden. The townships of Turton, 

 Longworth, Edgeworth, Entwisle, and Quarlton were 

 included in the chapelry. 57 Humphrey Chetham in 

 1746 left 1,000 for the chapel and school. 58 In 

 consideration of their various benefactions the Chet- 

 ham family obtained the patronage, and it has 

 descended to Mr. Henry Seymour Hoare, as heir of 

 Angelina Frances, one of the daughters and co-heirs 

 of James Greene. 59 The net annual value of the 

 benefice is 260. The church was rebuilt in 1779, 

 and again in 1 84 1. 60 The ecclesiastical parish was 

 formed in 1837. 



The following have been curates or vicars : 61 



oc. 1596 Gilbert Astley 61 



1628 Richard Denton, B.A. 



oc. 1647 James Rigby 64 



1648 Michael Briscoe 65 



1650 James Livesey 66 



1652 [Timothy] Smith 67 



00.1671 Richard Atherton M 



oc. 1677 William Richardson 69 



James Chetham 



1705 John Boardman (Brasenose Coll. Oxf.) 70 



oc. 1716 Henry Lawson, B.A. 71 (St. John's Coll. 

 Camb.) 



1732 Samuel Stead, B.A. (Brasenose Coll. Oxf.) 



1734 Robert Hargreaves, B.A. 



1742 William Sunderland 72 



1761 Amos Ogden, 73 LL.B. (Catherine Hall, 



Camb.) 



1815 James Spencer 74 

 1859 James Ogden King Spencer 75 

 1879 John William Spencer, 76 M.A. (St. John's 



Coll. Camb.) 



1900 James Odell Coleman " 

 1904 James Platt, M.A. (Dur.) 



Walmsley Chapel existed in 1 5 3 2 ; 78 it had a bell 

 and a few 'ornaments' in 1 5 52." Its fate for a 

 century after the Reformation is unknown, 80 but in 

 the time of the Commonwealth it was in use, being 

 apparently worked with Turton, but having some 

 separate endowments. 81 In 1717 there were no ser- 

 vices held beyond prayers and two sermons on one 

 Sunday each month. 83 The church was rebuilt nearly 

 a mile to the south of the old site in 1839; it is 

 called Christ Church. The ecclesiastical parish was 

 formed in i844. 83 The vicar of Bolton presents the 

 incumbent. The benefice is worth 350 a year. 



The following have been curates or vicars : 



1738 Thomas Whitehead, M.A. 84 



1 748 John Chisnall, M.A. 85 (St. John's Coll. Camb.) 



1756 James Folds 86 



1820 Lowther Grisdale 87 



1848 John Richardson 



1 860 Ralph Calvert Williams Croft, 88 B.A. (T.C.D.) 



1877 John Stott 



1894 Walter Chetwynd Atkinson, M.A. (Keble 

 Coll. Oxf.) 



55 Raines and Sutton, Humphrey Chet- 

 ham (Chet. Soc.), i, 34, 202 ; Old Lanes. 

 Libraries (Chet. Soc.), 57. 



56 Commoniv. Ch, Surv. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 32. The commis- 

 sioners recommended that it should be 

 made a parish church. The chapels of 

 Turton and Walmsley seem to have been 

 worked as one at that time. 



In 1665 it was reported that the chapel 

 was in good repair, and had a Book of 

 Common Prayer and a fair surplice. 

 There was no settled minister, and no 

 residence for one. There was no power 

 to bury, marry, or christen at the chapel. 

 None sent their children to be catechized 

 or confirmed. There was a ' new school ' 

 and a master. Walmsley Chapel is not 

 named in this report, which is among the 

 Chester Consistory Court Records. 



In a letter to Samuel Chetham in 1711 

 it is stated that the altar rails, &c., had 

 been removed in the time of the Civil 

 Wars, and had never been restored ; 

 Clowes D. 



87 Notitia Cestr. (Chet. Soc.), 22-5. 



58 Ibid, ii, 24 note. 



59 Scholes, Turton Tower, 34. 



60 Canon Raines in 1848 calls the 

 church St. Bartholomew's ; now it is St. 

 Anne's. The Directory calls the old 

 chapel St. Matthew's, and so does a prayer 

 book in the warden's pew. 



61 This list is largely taken from Mr. 

 Earwaker's notes made in Chester Dio- 

 cesan Registry, and from notes of Mr. 

 Scholes. 



62 He was curate in 1620 and 1622 ; 

 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54, 

 66. 



64 He exercised his ministry without 

 the authority of the Classis, but desired 

 to be ordained ; Shaw. Bury Classis (Chet. 



Soc.), 32,40. He removed to Liverpool. 

 Mr. Ingham was another candidate for 

 the chapelry ; ibid. 47. 



65 A 'godly and painful minister' put 

 in by the Plundered Ministers' Commit- 

 tee, and ' outed by some of the chapelry 

 that did not affect him' ; Commoniv. Ch. 

 Surv. 32. See Bury Classis. 



66 'A painful, godly, orthodox minis- 

 ter,' who had been elected ' by the unani- 

 mous consent of the congregation' ; ibid. 

 Bury Classis, 109. He was afterwards 

 (1652) at Atherton, and then rector of 

 Budworth, in Cheshire. 



67 Ibid. 132, 255 ; afterwards at Long- 

 ridge. 



68 Visit. List at Chester. 



69 He appears in the Visitation Lists 

 of 1677 and 1691. He was 'conform- 

 able ' in 1689; Hist. MSS. Com. Ref. 

 xiv, App. iv, 230. 



70 The Church P. at Chester begin 

 here. 



71 Notitia Cestr. ii, 23 note. He was 

 also there in 1724. 



72 Clowes D. 



78 Succeeded on the death of William 

 Sunderland. 



74 Presented by G. M. Hoare on the 

 death of A. Ogden. He was son-in-law 

 of his predecessor. 



75 Presented by the same on the resig- 

 nation of J. Spencer, who died in 1866. 



76 Presented by H. S. Hoare on the 

 death of J. O. K. Spencer ; he was a 

 younger brother, and died in 1904. 



77 Previously vicar of St. Barnabas', 

 and now of St. James's, Bolton. 



78 Duchy Plead, ii, 9. 



79 Ch. Gds. 24. 



80 Roger Harrocks is named as ' curate 

 of Walmersley ' in the Visitation List of 

 1563, but the entry is erased in 1565. 



280 



81 Commonwealth Ch. Surv. 32-3 5 the 

 stock amounted to 60. An allowance 

 of 40 was made by the Parliamentary 

 Committee ; Plund. Mini. Accts. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 76. Though 

 ousted from Turton Mr. Briscoe continued 

 to minister at Walmsley down to the 

 Restoration ; ibid, ii, 290 ; Pal. Note Bk. 

 1,96. He was ejected in 1662, and then 

 settled in Liverpool ; Bury Classis, ii, 218. 



Oliver Heywood preached at Walmsley 

 Chapel in 1670 ; Heywood's Diaries, i,. 

 269. 



In 1 71 7 the endowment amounted to 

 ^5 131. a year 5 some of the old stock had 

 been lost. It was then served by the 

 curate of Turton ; Notitia Cestr. ii, 25-7. 



82 Ibid, ii, 26 n. 



83 Land. Gaz. 1 7 Dec. 1 844. 



84 Church P. at Chester Dioc. Reg. 



85 Scholes and Pimblett, Bolton, 330. 

 He was also lecturer of Bolton Church,, 

 and moved to Westhoughton in 1755. 

 He entered St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge in 1744, aged twenty, being de- 

 scribed as son of John Chisnall of Welch 

 Whittle ; R. F. Scott, Admissions St* 

 John's College, iii, 112. 



86 Scholes and Pimblett, op. cit. 331-6. 

 He was lecturer of Bolton ; also vicar of 

 West Hythe in Kent (a sinecure). The 

 long period of his incumbency and his 

 eccentricities made ' Parson Folds ' one of 

 the most notable personages in the district. 

 A collection of his Sayings and Doings was- 

 published by Joseph Dodson Greenhalgh 

 in 1879 ; a portrait is prefixed. It is re- 

 ported that the congregation at Walmsley 

 being usually small, Parson Folds made it 

 a rule not to preach unless there were 

 seven persons present. 



87 First resident curate. 



88 Afterwards of Blackrod. 



